


after the storm

by deere



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Unresolved Romantic Tension, they care each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:42:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22329538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deere/pseuds/deere
Summary: "thancred, in particular, sustained quite an injury from that sin eater. i would not be surprised if he were in spagyrics still. please... give him my thanks."-a short retelling of the main story quest, "small favors".
Relationships: Warrior of Light/Thancred Waters
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	after the storm

**Author's Note:**

> i've been replaying shadowbringers on an alt lately and i couldn't shake this whole scene from my mind, so i wrote a short little drabble on it. if you haven't replayed shadowbringers since your first playthrough, i really reccomend it. it hits so much differently a second time around, and with a new pair of eyes. 
> 
> i may add future wolcred drabbles to this- i know i have a great many in my inventory. if i finish one someday you all will be the first to know

no sooner than the moment her feet touched the ground of the crystarium’s aetheryte plaza did she begin to run, feet taking her where she knew she needed to be right now. how overtaken she was with lyna’s words— hearing that he’d been harmed, enough to warrant _her_ worry… 

her chest felt tight. if only she could’ve been there. if only she could’ve done _more_. so many saved, but so many lost. he couldn’t be one of them. she wouldn’t let that happen. just another number, after all these years—?

she was there in seconds flat, slowing only as her eyes darted from one end of the infirmary to the next. lyna said he might still be here, so she’d have to expect a bed— _there_. 

thancred’s eyes didn’t even have time to catch her rosy gaze as she bolted through the spagyrics, falling to her knees in front of where he sat and gathering his hands into her own. he was surprised to find, however, how panic-stricken and desperate they came through looking, mona searching him over like a woman possessed. 

“lyna said— i came as fast as i could. thank the gods you’re safe,” she gasped, hands squeezing his own tightly. “where were you hurt? are you okay? i—”

“whoa, slow down,” thancred began, his own brown hues beginning to fill with concern. he brought a hand up to brush his thumb across the drying blood on her cheek— was that a handprint, or something? his expression hardened, and he locked gazes with her once more. “i’m alright. i took a nasty blow, but the healers have done well to mitigate most of the damage. i’m all but good as new.”

after her eyes searched and found nothing out of the ordinary, her gaze traveled to the chirurgeon that had been glancing over her shoulder at the scene, and saw her nod softly as she went back to her work. mona visibly relaxed, settling into her own weight as she sighed, leaning her forehead against their joined hands. 

his eyes offered her a once over, and didn’t particularly like what they saw. with her brown locks woven into braids, he found he was offered more than enough vision of her form-- her shirt was torn up the back, revealing what must’ve been a claw wound from one of the eaters. though there was no doubt it had long-since been healed, he couldn’t help the knot that formed in his stomach at the sight of her blood staining her tawny-shaded skin. so stained in her own blood, in the blood of others— he only wished he could promise her the same safety he offered minfilia. for now, he’d have to convince himself that she didn’t need it.

the solemn silence that had fallen over them was broken in due time, her hoarse, broken voice cutting through him like an arrow. “i’m so sorry... if only i’d been faster, i…” 

“no,” he responded quickly, watching her gaze lift back up to his. the way her eyes gleamed indicated to him that she was verging on tears. frowning, he tugged her closer, leaning down to wrap an arm around her in a half-hug. “you did what you could. you did so much more than anyone could’ve asked for.”

“but it still wasn’t _enough_ ,” she choked, burying her face into his shoulder. “we lost so many… so many good people. all in the name of saving this shard— in _my_ name, the name of the warrior of darkness…” 

pulling her arms around him, she leaned into him, allowing his familiar warmth to pull her into comfort, into security. “one of them died in my arms earlier, thancred. i couldn’t watch— no matter how many times i’ve seen it, i couldn’t just _watch…_ ”

well, that explained the print on her face, at the least. “i’m sure he was glad for your company.” he murmured into her ear, rubbing a gloved hand her back, careful of her wounds. “you are a sign that the battle is being won. that it’s _so close_ to ending. he passed knowing you’d keep going, and you’d be working for a future that kept his loved ones safe. i’m so proud of you.”

at his last sentence, he felt mona’s fingers curl into the back of his coat, her face press harder into his arm. though she didn’t speak anything more, he knew she only had so many words, anyhow. what were you to say in the face of such devastation? the least he could hope is that his words would reach her. 

once she calmed down and her shaking began to soothe over, he moved to pull her away, checking her over for any further injury than he could see prior. when he was sure she was hale and whole, he reached to grasp her chin in his hand, guiding her to look at him. “hey. i need you to do me a favor, okay?”

it didn’t take much to find minfilia. the herbs weren’t much of a hassle, either— though unorganized they may have been. it was very little effort for the reward of reassuring minfilia and bringing her and thancred back together. upon her return, he’d looked significantly more relaxed— or as relaxed as _thancred_ could look, anyway. 

the soldier’s words were well needed, too. it seemed he had overheard her venting to thancred, and wanted to be sure she stayed true on her path, despite her own heartache. not that she ever had any _choice,_ but… it never did lose it’s charm— hearing from others that they were feeling the effects of your work. 

much and more needed to be done. with eulmore’s threat reaching a fever pitch and two lightwardens left to defeat, the scions would be forced to push ever onwards. and so, as mona watched thancred and minfilia head out of the spagyrics, she inwardly wished them a safe journey, one hand gripping her shirt as it rested above her stomach and twisting it into a ball. 

“i can see you have much love in your heart.”

the warrior jumped at the voice casting from over her shoulder, quickly turning to find the suspect of it. chessamile only smiled kindly at her, but it was a knowing smile— one she knew was about to have some few things to say. 

“and much empathy, besides.” the older woman continued, using her magicks to stir a mortar and pestle with a blend of the herbs mona had delivered previously. 

letting out a nervous laugh, mona’s eyes trailed from her work to her face, and then to the floor. “too much for my own good, mayhap.”

letting out a noncommittal hum, chessamile took a few extra steps toward her, craning her neck to watch as the white-haired gunbreaker and the young blonde oracle approached the aethernet together. “i’ve seen the pair of you milling about the crystarium on occasion. bicker at each other like an old married couple, you do. though i’m sure you’ve heard such from your companions.” 

a small feeling of unease twisted in mona’s stomach at what the woman was implying. chessamile wasn’t even fully aware of what she was saying— of their history, their problems, their duty… but the bard was all too familiar with those who saw it fit to butt into her personal affairs. she supposed it was too late to stop her.

“madam?” she prompted, turning her head to catch her gaze. the elf simply cast a glance back, mischief plain in her expression. then, before either could say anything, she turned heel and began to walk to her station. 

“i won’t pretend to know your story, child.” she began, causing a soft pang of guilt in mona’s chest for thinking such. she briefly wondered how her elders always seemed to be able to sense things like that. “but i must say this much, for fear of seeing either of your hearts broken, should the day come that one of you find the other not-so healthy, bedded on one of our cots— _do_ consider telling him.”

frowning, mona cast a glance toward the aethernet once more, finding thancred and minfilia missing. they were likely off to the rookery as they spoke, procuring an amaro up to the journey into lakeland. she should be heading to the dossal gate herself, but…

“i don’t think it’s what he wants to hear.” she mumbled quietly— so quietly, she wasn’t sure if chessamile heard. and she briefly assumed she didn’t, for the pause after her words. however, before she made to set off for the tower, she heard the chirp of the woman’s final word to the wise.

“perhaps not. and the both of you want not for company, ‘tis clear— but i can also sense that you both tire of being lonely, as well. and if you had the chance to remedy that, well… it’s worth a shot, isnt it?” 

even if mona had wanted to respond, lacking for words as she was, she had already heard the other’s footsteps approaching a nearby bed to assist the wounded lying in it. assuming the conversation had ended, her steps stuttered in hesitation before she began to walk toward the gate in earnest.

though the conversation left mona more confused than she had been prior, she found that one thing was for certain—… she was rather tired of people having something to say about how she handled her relationship with thancred. 

and she was, perhaps, even _more_ tired of them being right. 


End file.
